Quick question for the more experienced players. I just found out about Mechjeb and it sounds like it takes a lot of the guesswork out of achieving orbit, docking, landing, etc. Do most people use this mod? I ask because it feels a little like cheating but seems like it allows you to focus more on your designs and getting things done.

Edit: So I used MechJeb to get a space station in orbit. However I only used the info panels (you all are right about rocket view peri- and apoapsis being super useful). All in all, it was very satisfying getting a circular orbit using the map tool only and with only minimal assistance from MechJeb.

Backup your save, no harm trying it. Personally I enjoy flying manually with maneuver nodes, but I really like the smart ASS feature, and the landing/aerobraking estimator. Ascent autopilot can also be useful to help compare lifters and ascent profiles, takes human error out of the equation.

I don't use any of the other autopilot features. Some people here are strongly against it. Its a single player only game. If you're having fun you're doing it right. Fun is different things to different people.

I'm not by any means an expert, but it is a great learning tool. My rockets use less fuel and I can make informed manual corrections and maneuvers after seeing what then computer did. Also, NASA astronauts don't fly their rockets manually anyway (moment if silence for the shuttle program)

i will be very very excited if the SLS every flies. I'm not saying it won't fly but the way our government handles things and with the way NASA's budget is treated it gives me grave concern that we will soon have a program that does not have it's own manned launch vehicle or worse yet end up with a launch vehicle that is stunted and holds us down.

remember when the shuttle was first concieved it was a far more capable ship than what we ended up with. Imagine for a moment that due to budget cuts the SLS has to be scaled down to a vehicle that can only send humans to LEO, sound familiar?

I'm not saying that i absolutely think this will happen but i am worried that it will.

While this is true, real astronauts do learn how to fly their craft manually.

It's an important distinction. They use automation for precision and workload reduction, not as a crutch for things they simply can't do themselves. That turned out to be really important on Gemini 8, Apollo 11, Apollo 13 and quite a few other missions.

And that's the case with MechJeb too. There've been some great launches where a tank exploded halfway up or I realized that the intercept I'd asked for was waaaaay off and I've had to grab the controls away from MechJeb to heroically save the day.

Or more likely ride that sucker down into the ocean, but at least there's a chance.

I played for a bit with no mods, then I got Engineer, then I got Mechjeb, and now I'm back to just engineer but can fly like I have mechjeb. Once you have a basic understanding of what you're doing, mechjeb can teach some advanced techniques that I probably wouldn't have learned otherwise.

No. This is not differing pronunciations. The product is Lego. The pieces are "pieces of Lego", usually referred to as Lego bricks due to the first pieces being just bricks. "Legos" needs to go die in a fucking hole, as it is outright WRONG.

I use it for the routine stuff that's just plain tedious, and for the stuff that there really should be an autopilot for anyway.

I find that there are plenty of unexpected contingencies or other scenarios MechJeb can't handle that require me to seize the manual controls and save the day, it doesn't diminish my fun or my learning that I don't have to manually do dozens of identical launch-gravityturn-circularize routines over and over between those moments.

Main reason I like MechJeb is because of Smart ASS. Honestly if there was a part that did the same I would use that instead of MechJeb. Especially for stuff when you have a maneuver node that wants you to burn for an hour or something.

If you get Remotetech and just install a Command module in each ship, it gives you most of the same functionality. I don't think it gives the specifically targetted stuff (TGT+/-, +RVEL/-RVEL, etc.), but you've definitely got the basics.

Mechjeb is great if only for the information it can give you. Initially when I started using it I couldn't fly for crap and was mostly just trying to build rockets right. So in that vein I used the automated flight functions pretty heavily. Then I started to get comfortable flying and scaled back my usage to just the information windows. I just now reinstalled KSP from Steam and flew a rocket in vanilla. After that experience I think that having a live view of Periapsis and Apoapsis while not in the map window is invaluable.

If you are an older gamer then please don't be offended but I'm going to go on a tangent here. One thing that I think people have difficulty grasping in 2013 with regard to gaming is the purpose. I've spent time in Battlefield, COD, Minecraft, WoW, and EVE-Online just to name a few. All of these games (minus singleplayer Minecraft) teach you that the value of your gaming is dependent on how you perform against others. It can be your K/D Ratio is shooters, your DPS and armor in WoW, or your wallet size and corporation in EVE-Online. In those games using a "mod" allows you to circumvent the level playing field and "cheat." We've been taught that's wrong and that the best way to have fun is to play Vanilla games to be the best on the same playing field.

Kerbal Space Program is NOT that kind of game. KSP is a game that has a general setup and you get to have fun however you want. There's not really a defined purpose besides flying rockets but even then you can just make it your goal to build ICBM's if that's what you're into. The value of your gaming experience is in your hands. If you have the most fun playing with MechJeb then do it. If you feel it's too easy then don't. So ultimately the question you need to ask is "Do I want to play with Mechjeb?"

Kerbal Space Program is NOT that kind of game. KSP is a game that has a general setup and you get to have fun however you want. There's not really a defined purpose besides flying rockets but even then you can just make it your goal to build ICBM's if that's what you're into. The value of your gaming experience is in your hands.

This really is the beauty of KSP, Minecraft, or really any other sandbox type game. I think there need to be more open ended games like these, as they have some of the highest replay values of any genre.

I always use MechJeb, the information windows provide you with a lot of crucial information that KSP inexplicably refuses to give you.

True altitude is a classic example...your ship clearly knows its altitude in game, because it uses it to control parachute deployment, yet the mission commander can't access this data? Some of the IVA modes will give you radar altitude, but only on some command pods and not on any of the probes.

I also don't get a lot of enjoyment out of smashing wasd until my ship rotates to whatever heading I want, so I just push the button I want on Smart ASS and go about my business.

Mechjeb is a powerful tool, and as you said, it lets you focus on other aspects of the game. It can also allow you to fly missions with craft that might not otherwise work very well. However, it has its weaknesses. It can't respond as effectively in an emergency, and it isn't always the most efficient at things.

From a learning standpoint, it can either be very beneficial or very detrimental depending on how you use it. On the one hand, by doing everything for you it prevents you from gaining firsthand experience. On the other hand, observing it in action a time or two can help you figure out how to do something, which you can then apply in practice for yourself.

Also, the Smart A.S.S. is incredibly handy. I don't personally much care for the rest of the mod, but if I could I'd have Smart A.S.S. and a few functions of the translatron put into a standalone mod part, or possibly the vanilla game.

Pretty experienced player here, I have been to every planet, and landed (Except Jool) without the use of MJ. Now that I have been everywhere, I try to build big/weird/funny stuff, and launch them with MJ. If you have any questions, please tell them!

Whenever I'm using MechJeb and RCS at the same time I've usually got one finger on the "R" button so I can toggle RCS on only for the instant that I actually need it for translational control. Most ships have plenty of momentum wheel capacity for rotational control without RCS.

I chose not to use MechJeb for quite some time now as non MechJeb users are clearly the master race......

....with that said, I will likely start using it again for missions in which I need a craft to maintain an altitude while I'm doing something else. Something I foresee happening with the new resource management.

Mechjeb can also be a good learning tool for people who are struggling, though I recommend people play without it and try to learn on their own as it makes it more rewarding. Some of us don't have all the time to learn everything through trial and error, so that is where Mechjeb usually steps in.

I put off using any mods (including MechJeb) until I had landed on Duna and returned successfully. Now I use MechJeb freely. It does the parts I've already mastered and lets me focus on the stuff I really want to do.

I definitely think you should learn the maneuvers yourself before letting MechJeb do it. Landing on the Mun and coming back from Duna were the most fun I've had in any game, and I would have felt a little cheated if MechJeb had done those things for me. If you aren't bothered by that thought, go and get him.

i think what the devs should do is integrate it, but not let the player use it right away. i heard they are planning to have a tech tree and such. it would be cool if you had missions to do certain manouvers and if you can demonstrate you understand it then you could unlock that feature of mechjeb in the tree if you wanted to spend the points.

i think that gives people the best of both worlds, a little challenge, something to earn, something to learn, and once you get it, you have the convienance.

Of course it can auto-pilot your ships into orbit, and I use that every time, because after 2 days of launching your ships it's kinda boring. And it never forgets about overheating or to turn at 10km etc.

It's very convenient, and while it surely CAN do all the work for you, it does not if you don't want to.

I'd recommend it if you don't like to get confused at working the NavBall and just want your life a bit easier.

If you can do something without mechjeb then you could use mechjeb for it. It's helpful if you want to do something that involves a lot of repetition (like making a network of satellites on the mun), or for complicated missions (like some of the things Scott Manly does). I don't use it mainly because I haven't done anything that really needs it yet, and I have fun flying things myself.

Here's my two cents. Mech Jeb would have ruined the glory of the game for me in the initial stages. Making rockets blind without the Thrust-to-Weight in the corner, trying your damnedest to get the thing to orbit, and then circularize. Making it to the Mun, and then Duna. These were accomplishments that made me feel like I actually know how to fly a spaceship.

After I landed a rover on Duna, put a station around Laythe, set up a Munbase and built a frigate with enough Delta V to go to Eeloo and back - it was time to start getting on to more complicated things.

Smart ASS should be vanilla, both that and the Delta-V calculator for your ships in VAB is enough reason to use Mechjeb. That being said, the only autopilot functions I ever use are align orbits with the rendezvous module, and Auto-Time Warp to Node or Periapsis. Just these simple functions makes life so much easier and opens a world of complex mission profiles for the rapidly progressing space program. Mech jeb lets you choose what functions you want to apply, and you can decide for yourself if ascent or landing autopilot are too cheaty for you. They are for me. I love flying my rockets!

I say use it, but not at first. I've put hundreds of ships into orbit, I really, really don't need to do that anymore. The challenge now is to design a ship, get it somewhere, make it do something, etc. Putting the thing into orbit is just boring now, let mechjeb do it.

I used MechJeb for a version or two. Back when this game had the better of me, MechJeb made the game more enjoyable for me. I no longer use it as my space flight skills have gone from lunatic novice to novice. I say use it and if you get tired of it, stop using it. Frankly, when it comes to this game, there are myriad ways to have fun, whether modded or Vanilla.

I use MechJeb for a few things, mainly. It's TWR and DeltaV readouts are incredibly helpful tools to have and save a little bit of time designing. The Smart ASS (which is an attitude autopilot) is very helpful in alignment, especially with MechJeb's added torque and ability to turn a vessel if ElectricCharge has run out (ie, orienting static solar panels). I also use it for it's ascent autopilot, as I hate that part of any mission, it's the most boring. I'm learning to not use it anymore, made my first interplanetary mission without it's help recently, but SmartASS alone is enough to make me hold onto it.

Bought KSP as soon as it was added to steam after having played the demo last year. Downloaded and installed mechjeb after a few hours - I didn't know about manouvers yet and remember frustration at attempting to eyeball orbits.

Read this thread and decided to go fly solo for a bit, partly to see if it was more fun, partly to prove to myself I could. Managed a simple orbit/splashdown in sight of KSC with minimal issues, so decided to up the ante and have just completed my first ever munlanding and safe return.

The addition of manouver nodes certainly deserves some serious credit, but watching mechjeb do its thing taught me how to land on the mun, perform a proper takeoff, etc. All in all it is a bit of a crutch, I think I'll make a point from now on to do things without using mechjeb all the time, it is more rewarding - for example on my mun mission I stuffed up the takeoff and ended up in a polar orbit rather than an equatorial one and so had to improvise a little with minimal fuel remaining and no idea how much deltaV I actually had left. Ended up using my terrible knowledge of orbital mechanics to get the most efficient return path I could. Feels good man.

Mechjeb's benefits seem to be Interplanetary travel and using the Translatron, but even a novice Kerbonaut such as myself can achieve a equatorial orbit within .1° and ~100m. It's definitely not cheating, as planning and building are often more difficult than flying. And real astronauts just press a retrograde button, and then the automatic RCS does the rest.

I've landed and returned kerbals on nearly every planet and moon without once using Mechjeb. I think you should master the game completely manually before using mods that make certain tasks less tedious. If you can't do something manually, you shouldn't be using MechJeb to do it for you until you can. Just my two cents. Play however you want.

A usual recommendation is to learn the basics first. Go to the Mun, Minmus, Duna... And after you grow tired of the wasd finger dance, you get MechJeb.

Before that, you can download Kerbal Engineer which gives you some really nice readouts on your ship such as Delta-V, orbit velocity, apoapsis height and so on.

But if you are going for realism... In the real world... People don't manually control the ascent. That's all computer stuff. And even stuff like landing and stuff like that, for unmanned probes, that all autopilot.

I used it once, for a few days and didn't like it. Of course, I guess I'm kind of a purist in that I don't use the quick save stuff either. If I can't fly my rocket myself I don't deserve to get anywhere. Admittedly, I don't get as much done this way and I'm not going to be posting any Imgur albums of my ridiculous flights here anytime soon, but playing this way makes what I can do so much more rewarding. Seeing that lander sitting on the Mun and knowing that I built it myself, flew it myself, and that any one of a thousand things could have gone wrong in the process is a wonderful feeling that just doesn't happen with a robot controlling your ship.